The Empyrean War

Chapter 1 – The Tragic Prince

ear not.

You may call me Za’afiel, and I am sent with a message for you and yours. My testimony contains many issues of which you need to be aware, for they relate directly to the unfolding of these last few days before all is complete. I am sure you know that there has been a war going on for some time. The actual conflict is passed, thank IaH, but much controversy remains, and the time has come for your people to take their last, decisive stand.

You noticed that I veiled my face when I spoke that Name. Yes, it is the Name of highest reverence, even for myself, one of the highest Querubim – which your human writers have often spelled “C-H-E-R-U-B-I-M,” but the “Ch” is a harder sound than this implies, like a “K” or a “Qu.”

But you thought angels had wings? Why, you are looking at them now. Notice that this “white garment” is actually composed of feathers, interlaced and held together. Watch as I unfold them ever so slightly, so...

We Cherubim have two wings, so when we are “clothed” we appear as ordinary men, unless we actually wear other apparel – be it armor or robe. The order just above us, the Seraphim, or “Burning Ones” have six, so while they may keep two folded over themselves, they have four remaining visible. The order just below us, the Ophanim, or, as they are often called, “Thrones,” have four.

The other Orders are, by rank – the Ikari’im (Principalities), Ko’achim (Powers), Malakim (Virtues) and Hashmallim (Dominions) – and these all have two as well. And what does “Cherubim” mean? It is translated as “Wise Ones,” or “Emanations of Knowledge,” with a connotation of “nearness,” but the testimony I bring to you concerns one who was not quite so wise... or so near.

My name means “Wrath of El.” El is a singular form for Elohim, which translates into English as God, or Lord. It does, however, have a higher meaning than the other word for Lord, Adonai, which is the title given to each of the seven guardians of the Presence... but I will get to that. You can see why in the past my brethren hesitated to give their names – so much explaining. For now, let us say that the only ones we call Elohim (a royal “we” as you humans say) are IaHVeH Himself and Prince Michael. As for “Wrath,” that is only a bad thing if outside of the Elohim’s protection, but this concept may not become clear to you until the very end of what I have to say. I realize that this has been a lot of information very quickly, and there is much more to come, but these things are necessary for your understanding of what is to follow. So shall we proceed? And I will give you translations of most of the new names or terms I use as I go along.

It has been over six thousand years since that time, and still the details are burned into my memory. I am not sure if I can get across to you the true horror of the events that unfolded before the Heavenly Throne Itself. Humans have been greatly desensitized – even in the most peaceful of your regions, you grow up amidst tales of violence, a history of bloodshed, and a knowledge of impending death. Not so for the angels. I cannot make you feel what I felt the first time I held a Kherev, or the first time I put it to use. I will tell you what that is shortly, and I think I had better work my way up to it.

Yes, your History (for such I will call the Scriptures your people possess) describes the main events of the War of Sin, but how... how could it ever be complete without your being aware of the pain of its unfolding? How can we make you understand – the abomination of sin, the desolation of rebellion; it is a desert in the soul, a wilderness in the mind, and whosoever finds a way into those dark regions, may IaH have mercy on them! Who can tell it like one who has seen it?

And that is why I am here.

There were seven holy messengers that once surrounded the Throne of our Father. These were Michael (Who Is Like El), Lucifer (Light Bearer), Sarakiel (Prince of El), Raphael (Healing of El), Camael (He Who Sees El), Phaniel (Face of El) and Raguel (Ally of El). Now there are four. Adonai Lucifer, as you already know, rebelled and fell away. But what you may not know is that he took with him Raguel and later, Sarakiel. After the conflict, El Michael left of His own accord, and a Cherub, Gabriel (Strong One of El), was appointed to fill the space left vacant by Lucifer.

Also, during certain occasions, when there need to be seven, the chief Seraph Israfel (Burning One of El), Raziel (Mystery of El) who was once of the Ophanim, but is now a Cherub, and myself would stand in. Raziel’s story is an unusual one, but I will tell you of him also during this tale.

It seemed strange to me indeed that the conflict would actually find its origins within one of the most holy Seven. Adonai Lucifer was not only an Archangel, he was also of the highest rank among the Cherubim. I should make it clear, though, that the title Adonai and the position as Archangel overrides an angel’s actual designation among the Orders. For example: Sarakiel is a Seraph, Raguel is a Principality, Phaniel a Throne, Camael a Power and Raphael a Virtue, but they were all of equal rank with the Cherub Lucifer and (nominally) with Michael. As for myself, I was the second-ranking Cherub below Gabriel before his promotion to Archangel.

When I first heard of the Controversy, it was by the whisper of Sh’fiel (Spy of El), a Cherub who had worked together with me on many tasks before. A whisper... it gets easier to explain when you understand that I am translating this story for you. No, not just into English, but also into symbols that you can understand. When I say arms, legs, heads, eyes, wings... these are all aspects of our beings. They take on the appearance of these physical constructs when we join with this plane, but as far as my references to them during the events in Heaven, they are “spiritual counterparts.” So bearing that in mind, a “whisper” is a method of communication from one individual angel to another, irrespective of distance, with only the two involved being aware of the message, or even that a message was passed.

As his name implies, Sh’fiel is one of the better-informed angels, but by the time he had shared this with me, the problem was apparently quite far advanced, for there was much whispering indeed among the Host. What he told me then was simply that Lucifer was not fulfilled. No matter how gently I try to ease into the heart of the matter, I can’t help but seem abrupt. The things of Heaven are not like the things of this fallen earth. To be “not fulfilled” was a horrendous tragedy in this, the One and Perfect Kingdom. In fact, it was the first of the abominations that were to unfold shortly thereafter.

Thinking back, I suppose I can say that there was some evidence beforehand. In my mind things really became noticeable when the new phase of Creation was proposed. El Michael was the One who was capable of Union with IaHVeH, and it was while in council with the Father new tasks were appointed, decisions made and plans created. From there, Michael passed the information to Adonai Lucifer, and Lucifer, their lesser Metatron, would break down, share out and explain the work to us.

Oh, I couldn’t describe how wonderful he was at his job. There are just no human words for the kind of dedication, efficiency and genuine love he had for his position. He was ever patient, ever kind, and infinitely gentle with even the lowliest of the Host; he delighted in being the first one there to encourage, uplift and teach. El Michael was at least his equal in this, of course – but He was always so busy with matters of the Union with IaVHeH and the Shekinah, which is the mystery-presence that held the Kingdom in unity, one of the manifestations of what is known in your language as the Holy Spirit, or the Presence of IaH.

Now, this new creation had us interested indeed. From what I understood (although dimly then), it was to be an entirely new plane of existence, one parallel with ours, yet subject to a completely different set of rules and laws. Nothing like this had been imagined before, and we were sure it would reflect an aspect of the Father with which we were unfamiliar – although eagerly anticipating. Yet when Adonai Lucifer explained it, he seemed... not quite as enthusiastic as the rest of us.

No one commented on this openly, for what could we say? In a place where there was no weariness, no depression... what could account for this new emotion? You can most easily equate what I perceived it to be with sadness. The only way I could think of it at the time was thus:

Once a week, all the Host would assemble before the Throne of IaH for worship. Since the creation and fall of man, there has been no occasion for us to rest from our labors, but we are provided strength enough to minister unceasingly until all is set right again. What also sustains us is the memory of those wonderful occasions, and the expectation that soon, soon we will be able to gather in this manner again. The singing of Israfel alone would be enough to get you to plead for redemption if only you could hear one more verse!

Occasionally, there would be such an important project at hand that one or more of us would be assigned our weekly tasks right after that day. It sometimes happened that this kept us away from direct fellowship with the rest of the Host until nearly the time of gathering came around again. Of course, close friends like Sh’fiel and I would always whisper, but it was not, of course the same. Who would rather speak over the telephone with a favorite relative than actually be there in person? And this “awareness of separation,” this is the closest thing I was able to come to at the time when I was contemplating Lucifer’s demeanor on that occasion.

He was aware of separation, even though he was right there surrounded by us all. I am sure I was not the only one who thought this unfitting. And moreover, it had to have been a thousand times worse than just this awareness for it to actually be apparent! For even as we labor, whether together or alone, we are always blissfully awake to the fact that our job was assigned to us because we as individuals are the best suited for that particular task. We knew that we were actively contributing to the continued perfect happiness of the Host, and we were filled always with the knowledge of our value to the others. The awareness of separation is only there so that we will have continuous appreciation for our brothers, not to cause us the least bit of imagined pain.

But with Adonai Lucifer, this was different, this was new. This was no holy longing, this was something entirely turned inward, something he was struggling to share; but it was as if he did not know how. As a result, his resonance took on strange tones, and he did not seem in perfect harmony with the rest of us. Music as you know it is in many ways a very dramatic representation of the spiritual, and some concepts are most easily expressed along these lines.

While no one made mention of it, I did whisper to him, “Adonai, what is this?” He looked at me, but did not reply. This too, was new.

Eventually, it came to light that Lucifer had desired to have Union also with the Shekinah and Father concerning the new “physical realm,” but Michael had declined his offer for help. At the time, though, we were completely mystified, and I am sure my whisper to him was not the only one on that day.

It wasn’t long after Sh’fiel’s whisper that it became really quite apparent that something was wrong. It took us a while to wrap our minds around that concept as well, for we were like newborn babies in terms of understanding how something could be wrong. From the day you are born, humans have needs, desires – and if these are not met, they result in painful experiences of different types. Even though our minds may move faster, you as a race can much more easily grasp the idea of wrongness than we, who had never known deficiency in anything, or an unfulfilled desire.

Lucifer was sitting among a group of us including myself, Sh’fiel, another Cherub Zephon (Looking Out) and Cerviel (Arm of El), who was the chief of the Ikari’im. He was relating to us some task to which we were being assigned in regards to the new project, with the new sense of mild melancholy pervading his essence. On that occasion, one of us actually brought forth the issue more publicly, for Zephon commented that he missed the Archangel’s customary warm glow. You will notice that certain angel names do not end with the customary “El,” and the reason for this is that these particular ones have been set aside by IaHVeH for specific purposes.

This isn’t to imply that we aren’t all uniquely valued, of course – that is one of the strongest currents in Heaven, that of individuality – but certain ones have also been set apart for various dedicated functions, such as Typhon (Northern Darkness), Adiriron (Might), Dumah (Silence), and so on. Zephon, as his name implies, is an oracle. To him is committed the foreknowledge of many things concerning the Kingdom. He worked alongside Adonai Lucifer on many occasions in explaining the more complicated assignments to which we were set.

“Why do you speak to me of warmth, Zephon?” Lucifer asked, to which the Cherub responded, “I do not know; but I see something strange.”

“What do you see?” This was my question, because strange is a word we usually applied to any new thing coming from the Elohim, and at that time had no negative connotations. I was trying to reconcile in my mind how this new emotion emanating from Adonai Lucifer could be considered “strange.”

He responded with a single word, “Sheemamon,” which is translated now to mean “desolation.” I whispered to him, “What does sheemamon mean?”

“I do not know,” came a whisper in reply.

“Have you nothing else to say, Lucifer?” Sh’fiel asked him, seeing that he had done nothing but stand silently since his one question to Zephon.

“Yes. Call me Adonai,” he said quietly, and walked away. Even Michael had never insisted that we use His honorific. We don’t use speech in the sense you understand it when we speak to each other, of course, and the connotation of our feelings is always apparent in our words. We could not even speak the name “Lucifer” without his due level of respect being made manifest in our language, so this was strange to me also in the new way I understood the word “strange.” At the time, I called it what it was... sheemamon.

Cerviel had remained silent during this exchange, but now that Adonai Lucifer was gone, he spoke. “He has been like this a lot lately: silent, thoughtful. When he is right near to me, I feel as if his essence is across the Kingdom.”

I asked, “Have you tried speaking to him about this? I whispered once, but I was ignored.”

“No. I think he would not be able to give an understandable answer even if he were to speak. So I have not asked him.” I nodded. The unease I had felt since that day had not abated, and I too wished I had not ventured to question the Covering Cherub.

Some time passed, and these new emotions were still with me. I had received no rest from them, and they seemed to be growing somehow... getting worse. I felt as if I had been polluted, a poison working slowly through my being. Now, looking back, I realize exactly what it was, and it had only partly to do with me. At the time, however, I was concerned that it would affect my efficiency at the tasks in which I was currently involved. As a Cherub, I was not only involved in getting things prepared for the Creation project, but also teaching certain others of the other Host the principles (to the limited degree even I understood them at the time) of the imminent physical plane. Sh’fiel was having the same problem, but while I decided to keep it to myself and then speak to El Michael about it as soon as He was available, Sh’fiel sought almost anyone who would listen and tried to reason it out with them.

I don’t know that there was anything wrong with him doing that, but the problem may have arisen from the fact that he spoke only to those who were closest to Lucifer, as if deciding that they would have the answers he was seeking. Zephon, Zahariel (Brightness of El), Turel (Rock of El)... with these mostly he spent his time. Worst of all, he didn’t seem to be getting much better. I had sent a whisper to Michael as soon as I decided to speak with Him about it, and He responded that He knew of the situation only too well, and that I would have the strength to endure my trials until such a time as we could discuss it face to face. Always with an encouraging word... that was really all I had needed to hear at the time, that He had it under control.

Ever since the problem arose, I had seen very little of Gabriel. He spent a lot of time with Michael now, and those two were always discussing something. Had I known then what I know now, I would have realized that they were also in constant communication via whispering even when they were apart. And if I, his direct underling, saw little of him, that means the rest of the Host probably did not see him at all during that time. My feeling of unease flared up every time I thought about it, and I could not restrain myself from asking him on one of the rare occasions we spoke.

“Some things will be changing soon, Za’afiel,” he said to me. “They will be new, they will be... sheemamon.” Everyone was now using Zephon’s word, for this is how widespread the knowledge of the incident between the five of us that day had become.

“Can this be prevented?” Gabriel looked thoughtful, and for a second my unease went to its peak when I saw in him something resembling the same coldness we were all seeing in Lucifer.

But he shook it off, and he said, “I would spare you some of this knowledge for now, dear friend. These things will soon become clear to you... no, it cannot be stopped. Has IaHVeH ever asked you to do something you did not want to do?”

I was confused at the question but, “No, of course not,” was my quick reply. The very idea was absurd, and even the thoughts felt strange passing through my mind.

“That is why things cannot be changed. Lucifer is...” he searched his brilliant mind long and hard before he could continue. “Lucifer is being asked to do things he no longer wants to do. For this reason, Elohim will soon no longer ask him.”

“What things?” I did not understand what Gabriel was talking about...

“Guardianship of the Shekinah.”

“What?!” I was aghast. This position was what gave him his title Adonai. In the opinion of the Host, that defined him. For Lucifer to leave his position as acting head of the holy Seven would be to “unmake” himself, if such a thing were even possible. My unease was now fully blown, and could at that point have rightly been called fear. Despite what Michael had said about me being able to handle this until He spoke with me, I felt as if I could not endure this awful new experience. Gabriel saw that his words had contributed to this, and he took on that temporary “coldness” for a time, but didn’t truly seem surprised.

“I know what you are feeling, Za’afiel. When Michael explained it to me, He warned me that this would happen. I was prepared for this fear but I am sorry I was not as equipped to strengthen you against it as was He.”

“Tell me truly, Gabriel... will things be okay?” I feared he would not answer me, for he stood there for a moment in contemplation, then he said, “Of course. How could they not be?” But that coldness, that sadness, flashed through him again for just an instant. I knew he was shielding me from something.

Sh’fiel and I spoke about this, and about his own recent conversation with a Seraph named Petahel (Impulse of El). When I related the above conversation to him, Gabriel’s words seemed to cause as much of a reaction in the sensitive Cherub as they had with me, and although I had a feeling everyone would need to be told, I could sympathize with Gabriel’s hesitation. I did not like causing such discomfort. When my friend had recovered, he told me about his words with Petahel a while before.

Lucifer had always been close with Petahel, closer even than with Zephon, for the two had a lot in common. Whereas Israfel was the chief of the Seraphim, and unquestionably the most beautiful singer, Petahel had a depth to his musical interpretation that was unmatched by any of the rest of his Order. In the same way among the Cherubim; El Michael was the head of the Order, but by virtue of his more public office, Lucifer was often considered the “acting foreperson.”

It was therefore in this mighty Seraph, according to Sh’fiel, that the Covering Cherub did most of his confiding. He was the first Lucifer approached about his new concern, and therefore the best source (in Sh’fiel’s opinion) from whom to get information regarding all the new and strange occurrences – aside from Lucifer himself, of course. But then again, he wasn’t talking. What my friend learned, and in the best way he could explain it to me, was as follows...

It was much as Gabriel had stated it to me. Lucifer had become dissatisfied with his position, feeling that he was being restricted in the carrying out of his purpose. It had occurred to him to ask that he be included in the Union concerning various matters, and his offer had been repeatedly declined. Michael had tried to explain to him the reasons why, but for some reason Lucifer did not accept His answers. Again, here was a new thing – Michael was strange (in our original meaning of the word), this was true, and always kept very busy by IaHVeH, but He had always taken as much time as possible to be with us. He seemed to enjoy fellowship as much as any of us – even more at times, I felt – and He would occasionally seem almost wistful that there was so much else that needed to be done.

Concerning various other perceived restrictions, Petahel said that Lucifer’s exact words to Michael had been, “If we were created to be holy, and if our ways are always pleasing to the Father, why is it that we must be so concerned with tasks and assignments? Constantly I transfer your commands (a rarely used word) from the Union to the Host, and they come in and go out so happily, never thinking, ‘what if.’”

I interrupted Sh’fiel’s account at this point and asked, “What if what?” He shook his head, “I am just telling you what was told to me.” I nodded, and he continued. Lucifer had followed this by declaring that we of the Host would be happiest if we could choose our own paths, our own ways, instead of constantly being under the subjection of each other and the Union.

“What did Petahel think of that?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but he seemed inclined to agree, from what I perceived.”

“And what do you think?”

“I don’t know...”

We were interrupted by my receiving a whisper from Kemuel (Assembly of El), a Seraph just under Petahel, and in charge of the outer sections of the Temple of the Shekinah. He summoned me to meet him near one of the gates, and as he outranked me at the time by virtue of his Order, I hastened to comply with no question. I used my wings to travel, as Sh’fiel and I had been a far distance from the Temple, and arrived almost instantaneously after parting from my friend. I greeted him, and Kemuel motioned for us to go through the gate.

As we stepped through into the Outer Court, we each wrapped our veil once over our eyes and twice over the lower half of our faces before letting the rest of it hang back down over one of our shoulders as you see mine now. This way, we can still see dimly (for the interior of the Temple is unbearably bright, even to us), and our words are symbolically “purified” as they are spoken within those most sacred confines. We knelt in the direction of the Inner Temple, and then Kemuel rose and moved to one of the seats. The six-winged angel turned to me and said, “You cannot have remained unaware of the events which have been taking place.”

When I did not respond, he continued in his melodic, song-like speech, “Well, the truth is, Adonai Lucifer has a great degree of respect for you, and would like your opinion on the matters which have recently come to his attention.”

“Then why did he not come and speak to me himself concerning these things?” Kemuel smiled and replied, “He said that he thought I had a better voice for it.”

A tiny bit of my discomfort stirred at these words. I was not familiar with flattery at the time (what angel was?), but we certainly delighted in praising the gifts of IaHVeH we saw in each other. However, this seemed different somehow, a little less sincere, and I definitely did not like that Lucifer had used this method – on both of us – to communicate with me so indirectly.

“So will you meet with him?” I was asked.

“I see no reason not to,” I said. The truth is, by now I was quite curious to hear what was really going on from the Cherub himself, and in my innocence I truly believed that we could reason away these disturbing new emotions. At that point I was tired of all the whispering, and I had a strong feeling that I was not the first to have been approached in this way by Lucifer regarding the apparent dispute between himself and El Michael. However, as confident as I was in the power of reason to overcome this matter, I scarcely trusted myself to speak with the mighty Archangel, and desired to have my promised meeting with Michael first. I therefore added, “But I would like to choose the time of the meeting, if Adonai would be so gracious.”

“But there is no time like the present, dear Za’afiel,” came Lucifer’s deep voice from a distant corner of the Outer Court. I whirled around to face the direction from which he had spoken, and when he walked closer my eyes narrowed behind my veil. With his own ceremonial covering, the Archangel had passed only once over his mouth, and his eyes remained fully exposed. Fear exploded full-blown within my being afresh, because in those naked eyes I saw something I had never seen before. This was beyond coldness, beyond sadness. This was... sheemamon manifest; an emptiness in those eyes, once so loving and so tender. Kemuel, meanwhile, had bowed to Lucifer and flapped hastily away, leaving me alone in the temple with the Covering Cherub, whose demeanor made me want to weep as if with joy, but somehow... somehow I was not feeling joyful at all.